Jerome Gambit: I Am Not As Smart As Bill Wall (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - LttlePrince

Italian Game Classic tournament, Chess.com, 2020

I was ready to answer 19...Nf2 with 20.Qxf5+ Kg7 21.Qf6+ Kg8 22.Qe6+ Kf8 23.Qf6+ etc. and split the point with a draw by repetition.

19...Raf8

My opponent was not amused. I could have now captured a pawn with 20.Qxf5+, but, after 20...Ke7 21.Qg4 he probably would have gone for the Knight fork with 21...Nf2, and there would be no draw for me to find for the loss of the exchange.

20.Rhf1 Ke7 21.Rf3 

The Rook was going - somewhere?

The irony was that while I was considering making moves against the enemy King on both the Kingside and Queenside, Black's Knight stood like a tower of strength in the middle of my position.

21...Qc5 22.Rb3 b5 

At the time, this looked like a consession by my opponent.

23.a4 a6 

Of course. It was a bit too much to hope for 23...bxa4 24.Rb7+.

24.Qh6 

This was the high point of my optimism about our game. It was mostly downhill, thereafter.

24...Rfg8 25.g3 Rg6 26.Qh5 Ke6 

What to do?

After the game, the computer suggested 27.Kb1, but I chose a different kind of piece shuffling. I wanted to leave my Queen where she was, as she seemed to be keeping the enemy Rooks busy. So - a Rook?

27.Re1 Qc4 

More salt in the wounds. I had the impression that opening a line would now be against my King, but I wasn't ready to give the a-pawn away for free.

28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra3 b4   Black resigned

Black's b-pawn is headed toward b3, and, in the meantime, where is my Rook to go? In the meantime, my Queen isn't holding his Rooks, the Rooks are holding my Queen. His extra Knight still sits there, smiling.

This is what it's like to be decisively defeated by a stronger opponent, one more proof that I am not as smart as Bill Wall.

Jerome Gambit: I Am Not As Smart As Bill Wall (Part 1)

I just resigned my Jerome Gambit game in the third round of the Italian Game Classic tournament at Chess.com. Truth be told, I ran out of ideas, in a bad position.

That's just one way that I am not as smart as Bill Wall - he never seems to run out of ideas. There are other ways, to be sure, and I will get to them.

In the mean time, I have to congratulate my opponent, who steadily and clearly out-played me, even more than I had feared.

Most likely I will finish in 3rd place in the tournament, out of 5 players, behind the undefeated Winawer99, and LttlePrince.

perrypawnpusher - LttlePrince
Italian Game Classic tournament, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

For the record, I had played this line against AndrewLLL earlier this round, winning in 18 moves. I was a bit worried that LttlePrince might notice, and learn from that game - as well as my blog notes.

This headache was just recently compounded, when I advanced to the fourth round of the Italian Game Battlegrounds tournament at Chess.com, along with TamasHK - and AndrewLLL (we had tied for top in our section and both moved on). So I can expect both of them to stop by and peruse this game coverage, too. (Hi, guys.)

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5 

9.Ne2

Previously, I had played 9.f4 in perrypawnpusher - joseluislopez, blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 55) and 9.Bg5 in perrypawnpusher - lixuanxuan, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 22). I did not like how Black damaged my Queenside pawns in that first game, so I chose the text as a way of avoiding the Bishop-for-Knight swap.

According to The Database, 9.Ne2 was a novelty when I played it against AndrewLLL. I hadn't come up with anything better - so I played it again, against LttlePrince. 

9...c6 10.f4 Bc7 11.e5 Ne4 

A slight improvement over 11...Nd5, which AndrewLLL had played. This Knight seems to be floating in air, but, once it is cemented in place, it becomes a dominating force.

12.Qd3

Ah, yes. A decade ago, Wall, B - Stevanovic, R, Chess.com, 2010 had continued, instead, 12.O-O Bb6+ 13.Nd4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Qb6 15.Be3 Qxd4 16.Bxd4 and Black had succeeded in swapping Queens, exaggerating his Knight-for-a-pawn material edge. Since the game was a rare thing - a loss by Bill - I had figured that I could "improve" on his play by avoiding similar excitement along the a7-g1 diagonal. Fair enough; but, as I have pointed out, I am not as smart as Bill Wall...

12...d5 13.Be3 Bf5 14.Qb3 Bb6 15.O-O-O Bxe3+ 16.Qxe3 Qb6

This was my preparation for the line - no need to search for the game, it hasn't been posted on the blog, see "Do I Share Everything? No" - I even had an "answer" to "save" my Queen.

17.Nd4 g6 

Well, my King has castled, and my Rooks are linked - but his Rooks are linked, too. White's chances must lie in mobilizing his "Jerome pawns", starting with h2-h3, perhaps preparing this with g2-g3 in order to counter-act Black's possible prophylaxis with ...h7-h5 and ...h5-h4.

Instead, I decided upon a joke plan that probably would have worked in 1-minute bullet chess, and might have worked in 5-minute blitz chess, but had no place in a 3-days-per-move tournament. 

18.Nxf5 gxf5 19.Qh3 

See? Who could possibly resist 19...Nf2, forking both of my Rooks and my Queen?

Is this chess or stand up comedy?

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 3)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

24...Rg7 25.Kf2 

After the game, Komodo 10 also liked 25.Rf1 and 25.Re3, as well as the two other King moves that unpin White's g-pawn, 25.Kh1 and 25.Kf1. I made my choice based on the hope that, once I had won the d6 pawn, a centralized King would help escort my connected, passed "Jerome pawns".

25...Rf8 26.Nd5 Bg4 

27.Ne3

Afterwards, Komodo 10 suggested that my King further advance, with 27.Ke3. It then saw as most practical that the Bishop retreat and reposition, with 27...Bc8 28.Rd2 b5 29.Red1 Bb7 and things would still be relatively balanced. If I had to do it all over again, that would be my choice.

27...Bxf3 

Unexpected, but logical. Black returns his extra piece for a couple of pawns.

28.gxf3 Nxf3 29.Rh1 

Suddenly, all of Black's pieces are focused on White's King!

29...Nd4+

Best might have been 29...Nd2+ 30.Ke2 Nxe4 31.Rdf1 Re8 although most of the storm would have passed.

30.Ke1 

Probably leading to an equal game would have been 30.Nf5 Nxf5+ 31.exf5 Rxf5+ 32.Ke3, but I wanted to keep the Knight defender around, as it was doing a pretty good job.

30...Nf3+ 31.Ke2 

Here, I though to myself, So, he had a draw in hand, to back up his sacrificial attack...

31...Nd4+ 

Played too quickly, perhaps with the same idea in mind: Chase the King back to e1, check him again from f3: draw by repetition. But, in my musings I had overlooked the fact that this was not a discovered check, as before, so things have changed.

Instead, the Knight needed to go to g5, when White would still have a lot of work to do to convert his extra pawn into a win.

32.Rxd4 Black resigned

Lucky, me, this time.

I have one more Jerome Gambit, this round, against LittlePrince, who plays 3...Nf6, but who allowed a transposition after 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+. I have only played the Jerome a few times against players of LittlePrince's rating - and have not scored well (especially if you do not count the 4-move win on time) - but, here we go!

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

12...Nc4 

Of course. (I write that now, but the move came as a surprise.) White's Bishop is unprotected, and it's capture would lead to a brutal fork. At the same time, the b-pawn is available for capture.

13.Bd4 

After the game, Komodo 10 suggested 13.Qc1, to protect the Bishop and the pawn. Assessing 13...Nxe3 14.Qxe3, Black would have exchanged a piece that had moved 4 times for one that had moved once. On the other hand, White's Queen would be pulled onto the same file as Black's Rook, with a possible ...d5 coming.

The text move avoids the Knight-for-Bishop exchange, while threatening Bxf6 - as if the piece had moved to g5 in the first place (but taking an extra move).

13...a6 

After the game, Komodo 10 recommended 13...Nxb2 14.Qb1 Nc4 15.Qxb7, when White's Queen would be drawn dangerously far away from the Kingside, should Black choose to attack.

Was my opponent planning to support his Knight at c4 with ...b5 ? I thought so, but his next move suggested otherwise.

14.Ne2 Ne5 15.Nc3 

A craven attempt to suggest a draw, by repetition of position - another symptom of my bad emotional state. 

I got a chuckle out of the quick assessment that the Chess.com site provided, after the game, labelling both my 14th and 15th moves as "excellent". Black's response was best.

15...Nc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 

Breaking up the Kingside pawn structure, rather than play 16...Qxf6, losing a pawn to 17.Rxd6.

17.Qd2 Qe7 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Qf4 Kh8 20.Rfe1 Ne5

Black is not in a hurry. Let White take the risk and make the mistake.

21.Nd5 Qg7

Giving up a pawn to get the Queens off of the board. The alternative was 21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 (planning pressure on the d-pawn down the file), when one of Black's Rooks, or his Queen, can go to either of the semi-open files; perhaps 22...Rg8 was best.

One line I never considered at the time was 21.Bxd5 22.Rxd5 f5!?, which would have revealed some of the structural problems of my Kingside after 23.Qxf5?! Rg8. More about this, later in the game.

22.Qxf6 Qxf6 23.Nxf6 Re7 24.b3

With 3 pawns for the piece, White has probably equalized. Black's pawn on d6 is still a weakness, and if White can get in c2-c4, he can apply pressure to keep things in balance.

I was catching my breath, but the game was going to take a wild turn.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 1)

I won my third round game - an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - in the "Italian game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, when my opponent and I seemed to have the same "hallucination" about a tense, tactical position. Up until then, I had been awkwardly struggling to lurch my way back to equality - only to be smacked around by a violent return of my sacrificed material.

Given the distracted level of my play, I consider myself quite lucky.

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 

Whew! My game against Winawer99 in the same round continued 4...Nxe4, and I decided to avoid my past suffering with the Noa Gambit / Monck Gambit / Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - 5.Bxf7+ - and played, instead, 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.d4, a line that I also have struggled with. It showed: on my way to a possibly drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, I overlooked a checkmate in 2 moves (0-1, 21).

5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

What difference does the addition of Knights at c3 and f6 make, when compared to the regular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Komodo 10 shows it to improve Black's position by about 3/4 of a pawn.

The Database has 2,731 games with the Four Knights version, with Black scoring 61%. This compares to 15,157 games with the Jerome, proper, with Black scoring 54%.

I have to admit, in my own games, Black scores 25% in my Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games (62) versus scoring 17% in my regular Jerome Gambit games (336). 

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8

I like this move. Instead of worrying which piece to save, Black develops another one, on a crucial file. Let White figure it out!

8.dxc5 

In preparing this post, I was amused to discover that Komodo 10's second choice, here, was not a capture, but 8.0-0, fully relying on the fact that not all of the pieces will be able to escape, e.g. 8...Bd6 9.f4!? Nc6 10.e5, etc. 

That line, in turn, raised a question for me: Has anyone ever tried moving the f-pawn right away, i.e. 8.f4 ? It turns out that The Database has two examples - Svirfneblin - cosmoo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24) and Mvskoke - Panico, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 36). It is an example of going too far, however, as Black has 8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 and he is doing better than in the normal lines.

By the way, The Database has 6 games with 8.0-0 (Black scores 56%) - and in 3 of them, Svirfneblin had the White pieces. I will have to look at more of his games...


8...Kg8 

Finishing castling-by-hand. I have noted

This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),

9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 cxd6 

This is probably an improvement over 10...Qxd6, which I faced a couple of times perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - strandskatan, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 38). I was prepared, sort of

After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.

11.Be3 

An odd move; the Bishop usually goes to g5. I was planning to play f2-f4, but, for some reason I was worried about ...Qb6+ at some point, so I protected the a7-g1 diagonal. Of course, White's b-pawn is not vulnerable to that enemy double attack, until the Bishop moves. I suspect Caffeine Deficiency Disorder.

11...Be6 12.f3 

This is the move that White sometimes plays when he gives up on his plan to attack, and decides to hunker down and challenge Black to do something with his material advantage. Suddenly - comparatively, as the time control was 3 days per move - that became my plan.

The word "collywobbles" comes to mind.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Another Recovered Game

In the previous post (see "Jerome Gambit: His Trap Was Part of My Trap") I noted that I had stumbled over another one of my blitz games that I had not yet posted on this blog. (With over 600 of my games in The Database, that seems quite possible.)

Playing over the game, it is hard to figure out why it did not appear: it is not an embarassing loss - or an interesting win, either. Play simply continues until Black errs, wherupon he resigns. 

perrypawnpusher - lixuanxuan
blitz, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 

In the main line Jerome Gambit, retreating the Bishop this way can lead to trouble, but, in the Four Knights variation, Black has protected against annoying Queen checks from d5.

8.dxe5

Back in 2011 - 2013, Philidor1792 experimented with the extravagant 8.f4!? in blitz play, scoring 7 - 2 - 1.

8...Bxe5 9.Bg5 

Often the Bishop goes to g5 in the Jerome Gambit, to put pressure on the enemy Knight, possibly in conjunction with Nc3-d5. Previously, I had played 9.f4 in perrypawnpusher - joseluizlopez, blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 55), and, just recently, I had played 9.Ne2 in perrypawnpusher - AndrewLLL, Italian Game Battlefield, Chess.com, 2020 (1-0, 18).

8...h6 10.Bh4 Qe7 

11.Nd5 Qd6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.O-O c6 14.Nxf6 Qxf6 15.c3 d5

16.exd5 cxd5 17.Qxd5+ Kg6 18.Rad1 Be6 19.Qe4+ Bf5 

White has 2 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but they are on either side of the board, and whatever passers they promise to produce are a long way into the future - if ever.

20.Qe3 h5 21.Qg3+ Bg4 

A strange slip - given that the time control was 14 minutes, no increment, and he had 9 minutes left on the clock - as it allows his Bishop and Queen to be pinned to his King. I chose the Queen

22.Rd6 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: His Trap Was Part of My Trap

The following game again brings up a topic of concern

I have previously mentioned FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos' thoughtful website, The Chess Mind, and his down-to-earth query, Is there even a single trap for Black to fall into in the Jerome Gambit?
My response has been

With due respect to Dennis, at the club level the entire Jerome Gambit can be considered a "trap" - especially if we consider psychological aspects. Black must pay attention, even as he treasures his advantages, or they will evaporate. 

My recently-completed game against AndrewLLL, in the third round of the "Italian Game Battlefield" tournament at Chess.com, is an example of the defender setting a nefarious trap, only to discover that his trap was part of my trap...


perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL
Italian Game Battlefield, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. The Database does not contain any games by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome with this line. I have played the line 60 times, scoring 74%.

 5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6

8.dxe5 Bxe5 

There is definitely something strange about this opening line of play - at least as far as I am concerned.

I recently posted a game where I now played 9.f4 -  perrypawnpusher - joseluizlopez, blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 55) - that I had somehow overlooked posting 8 years ago.

In preparing for this post, I noticed that I had also not posted perrypawnpusher - lixuanxuan, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 22), where I explored 9.Bg5. I will fix that oversight soon. (The Database has 12 games with the move with White scoring 42%)

9.Ne2

After the suffering at the hands of joseluizlopez (see "Jerome Gambit: Another Historical 'Oversight' "), I made a note to try something that would keep my pawn structure intact. Little did I realize how odd the pawns would become.

9...c6 10.f4 Bc7 11.e5 Nd5 12.O-O Re8 

Black begins to castle-by-hand and is better, having a piece for a pawn.

White focuses on Blacks backward d-pawn, that blocks the light-squared Bishop, which, in turn, hems in the Rook. It is not enough compensation, but it is something to work on.

13.c4 Ne7 14.c5 b6 15.b4 a5 

My pawns are trying to gang up on the enemy d-pawn. If I only had an extra move, I could put my Bishop on b2, and then play a2-a3, with the ability to keep my pawn chain intact. Of course, I can't play 16.a3 directly, as it would fall to the simple 16...axb4. I decided to develop my Bishop and hope for the best.

16.Bb2 axb4 17.Qd4 

The attacking battery along the a1-h8 diagonal has potential. It will take a little cooperation to become dangerous, but it's not chopped liver.

In the meantime, the Queen threatens to capture the pawn at b4.

She also threatens to blunder, which Black notices quickly.

17...bxc5 

Guarding the pawn at b5, and offering the one at c5, instead. Of course, 18.Qxc5? would now be punished by 18...Bb6, pinning and winning the Queen. 

Black had stronger defensive ideas available - after the game, Komodo 10 recommended the consistent 17...Kg8, completing castling and maintaining the advantage - but I suspect that the "Negative halo effect" took hold of AndrewLLL at this point, and he figured, "If this guy is dumb enough to play the Jerome Gambit, he's probably dumb enough to hang his Queen". So he set his trap.

18.e6+ 

Black resigned

I had not worked out the attack completely, but it is clear that Black must now play 18...Kxe6, when, after 19.f5+ Nxf5 20.Qe4+ Kd6 21.Rad1+, the end would be near. After 21...Nd4, the exchange sacrifice is easy to find (the time limit for this game was 3 days per move), and, with 22.Rxd4+ cxd4 23.Qxd4+ Ke6 Black's King will not be long for the world.